Used car "admin fees"
Discussion
It's interesting, actually. I think the issue is that the fees aren't included in the price, so it feels like sharp practice. If you have a truly mandatory fee to cover admin, inspection, warranty or whatever then this should be included in the price shown to the buyer. It seems it's only a problem when it's split out and displayed separately.
daemon said:
True. There may be instances where they just want their cash to buy other specific stock rather than add another link to the chain - usually smaller or specialist dealers, however generally finance and a trade in add little hassle but more profit.
I've have only ever bought from small quality traders or privately. So no idea on main dealers or supermarkets. I've managed to get 15-20% discounts on a few occasions. It usually involves: I make my firm offer, they say no, I leave my telephone number in case they change their mind and walk away. Then I get a phone call and they finally accept or renegotiate. Or no call arrives. One time the call came a week later. My bargaining chip is offering a swift no hassle purchase.
I'm happy to use dealers to find and prep a car, but I won't pay more than I would for a private deal.
Presumably uncle Arnold's £50 for "fuel & mats [£25 fuel]" is there version of an admin fee?
It appeared to be the only extra that the salesman didn't bring to my attention - everything else under the sun was discussed and politely declined.
I let it slide due to the fact I was very happy with the deal I was getting.
To be fair when I picked up the car it did have new mats and half a tank of fuel, but those mats were really really cheap tat...
It appeared to be the only extra that the salesman didn't bring to my attention - everything else under the sun was discussed and politely declined.
I let it slide due to the fact I was very happy with the deal I was getting.
To be fair when I picked up the car it did have new mats and half a tank of fuel, but those mats were really really cheap tat...
k-ink said:
daemon said:
True. There may be instances where they just want their cash to buy other specific stock rather than add another link to the chain - usually smaller or specialist dealers, however generally finance and a trade in add little hassle but more profit.
I've have only ever bought from small quality traders or privately. So no idea on main dealers or supermarkets. I've managed to get 15-20% discounts on a few occasions. It usually involves: I make my firm offer, they say no, I leave my telephone number in case they change their mind and walk away. Then I get a phone call and they finally accept or renegotiate. Or no call arrives. One time the call came a week later. My bargaining chip is offering a swift no hassle purchase.
I'm happy to use dealers to find and prep a car, but I won't pay more than I would for a private deal.
As you've said though if you're using small quality dealers theres less chance of that compared to say, car supermarkets or big dealers that we're talking about here.
POORCARDEALER said:
thebraketester said:
Expensive for them to walk it to a bank and deposit it?
1% + charge on business accounts to bank cash....and I dont think the office junior will be walking to the bank thses days with it....secure collection by van, also another cost.I used to get charged for lodging cash when i was trading. And likewise with a car supermarket it wont just be one car paid for with cash and a few grand stuffed in your pocket in the walk to the bank, it'll be 20 cars at maybe averaging £15K cash
93DW said:
Some of these replies are amusing, Some of you have been watching too much Wheeler Dealers!
The dealer I work for has a £99 fee which is for a mechanical inspection by the AA, which every sale is subject to. To make it crystal clear we even put it at the bottom of every in advert an in capital letters as well so it stands out from the rest of the advert. Would any of you say that's unfair?
It's fair and reasonable.The dealer I work for has a £99 fee which is for a mechanical inspection by the AA, which every sale is subject to. To make it crystal clear we even put it at the bottom of every in advert an in capital letters as well so it stands out from the rest of the advert. Would any of you say that's unfair?
As is my 'buyers fee' for the same amount payable by the vendor.
I've bought a few vehicles from businesses that operate these sort of schemes and both times I've agreed a deal that worked for both of us. Whether they remove the fee or not the bottom line is buying the vehicle for a price you're happy with.
s
tty business practice though.datum77 said:
This self-same trick is practised by ticket selling websites, and I have complained to the ASA again in the same vein as above. And, again, been ignored.
On several occasions I have been charged an admin fee for concert tickets I have purchased from one of the companies that monopolises the market - and offers tickets for resale at hugely inflated prices on the very first day they go on sale - just for emailing my tickets to me. Sharp practice IMO, and they get away with it because the law is weak is this area, as it is with touting.Hoofy said:
dudleybloke said:
Tell them its OK but you will charge them a £1000 admin fee for signing the paperwork.
There are a few companies round here that do it. I ignore their ads on Autotrader.
daemon said:
750turbo said:
£10 Commission on a car - Shocking! (Even Arnold Clark pay £50, or used to)
I think volume dealers now have moved the focus of commission away from the low profit margin in the car itself and on to a percentage of admin fees, tyre insurance, GAP insurance, finance commission, servicing packs, extended warranties, etc.wiliferus said:
Hoofy said:
dudleybloke said:
Tell them its OK but you will charge them a £1000 admin fee for signing the paperwork.
There are a few companies round here that do it. I ignore their ads on Autotrader.
I guess it depends on how desperate you are for that particular car or to replace a current car eg needing one urgently for work.When I was looking to replace my 9-3 I noticed a handful of ads from small garages/trade sellers added an admin fee of £95. Coincidentally this meant that the handful of cars I saw with this charge fell into a lower price bracket when I was searching.
To me it came across as them trying to get you to look at a car which was actually priced slightly higher and it totally put me off the buyer.
If a car is being sold for £1,100 for example and that covers the sellers costs it seems cheeky to advertise it at say £995 so it falls into a sub £1k search criteria. Comes across a trick to try and get people in the door when it's not actually the price bracket they wanted.
Guess it's a psychological thing. If you're buying a car at an agreed price and you're happy with that then great. If you see a price you like plus an extra cost you wonder why you should have to pay it. Even if the price is essentially the same.
To me it came across as them trying to get you to look at a car which was actually priced slightly higher and it totally put me off the buyer.
If a car is being sold for £1,100 for example and that covers the sellers costs it seems cheeky to advertise it at say £995 so it falls into a sub £1k search criteria. Comes across a trick to try and get people in the door when it's not actually the price bracket they wanted.
Guess it's a psychological thing. If you're buying a car at an agreed price and you're happy with that then great. If you see a price you like plus an extra cost you wonder why you should have to pay it. Even if the price is essentially the same.
I experienced this earlier this year. I saw a Fiesta Titanium X 1.0 ecoboost for sale at Peter Vardy. Sticker price was £11500. I emailed saying I could give £10500 cash. A good starting point I think. I was happy to go to £11k. The salesmans reply was it's £11500 plus a £195 admin fee. If I didn't put in a deposit then it was going to auction the following week. I assume it did go that way as it was soon off the for sale list. I'm quite sure it didn't reach anywhere near that at auction.
I used the cash as deposit on a brand new Focus ST-3.
I used the cash as deposit on a brand new Focus ST-3.
I bought a S/Hand Skoda a few months ago.
No fuss with the sale just offered a price and it was accepted.
Then £25 for fuel, I'd already noticed on the test drive that the tank was 3/4 full.
So I assume there would have been a £25 profit for fuel.
That got removed without a fuss too.
Sometimes its the garage trying to make more profit, don't disagree with that, as a customer you have to learn to say no.
No fuss with the sale just offered a price and it was accepted.
Then £25 for fuel, I'd already noticed on the test drive that the tank was 3/4 full.
So I assume there would have been a £25 profit for fuel.
That got removed without a fuss too.
Sometimes its the garage trying to make more profit, don't disagree with that, as a customer you have to learn to say no.
A local place says their fee (£125 +vat because all retail customers are ex-vat 
) covers:
"The administration fee covers all documentation associated with this vehicle, HPI inspection, vehicle checks etc. The HPI inspection checks if a car has finance owing, is stolen, cloned, written off or clocked giving you real confidence in our cars. Our vehicle checks carried out during preparation include RAC inspections against each vehicle (excluding Outlet Cars which are inspected by our own vehicle technicians)."
So you are paying them for something they should be doing themselves before putting the vehicle up for sale - making sure its HPI clear, etc. The RAC inspection is (I strongly suspect) also a nonsense.
Unfortunately if people continue to pay the fee, places will still charge them.
) covers: "The administration fee covers all documentation associated with this vehicle, HPI inspection, vehicle checks etc. The HPI inspection checks if a car has finance owing, is stolen, cloned, written off or clocked giving you real confidence in our cars. Our vehicle checks carried out during preparation include RAC inspections against each vehicle (excluding Outlet Cars which are inspected by our own vehicle technicians)."
So you are paying them for something they should be doing themselves before putting the vehicle up for sale - making sure its HPI clear, etc. The RAC inspection is (I strongly suspect) also a nonsense.
Unfortunately if people continue to pay the fee, places will still charge them.
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